Worked up from a piano impro, and sax added using Embertone's sensual sax for a bluesy, dreamy feel.

Vossendromen

Another creation from my project called the song of your name.

Inspired by A.O.

The song of your name is a exploration of spontaneous improvisation inspired by a random sequence of notes. The notes are created by turning the letters of someone's name into musical notes.

There are only 7 musical notes: a-b-c-d-e-f-g, so I use a matrix of 7 columns to transfer all the other letters of the alphabet, e.g:

a b c  d  e f   g
h  i  j  k  l  m n
o p q  r  s  t  u
v w x y  z

thus the letters of, for instance, "Bob" become the musical notes b-a-b

Then then fun starts. Like selecting random letters in a game of Scrabble and trying to make a word, I try to make musical sense of the random selection of musical notes.  My tools are melody, counter-melody, harmony, rhythm, dissonance, collision and sometimes, pure musical nonsense.

As I write I also try to convey a impression of the person whose name I have taken as the inspiration for the piece.

Steve Morrall 2016
PRS for Music CAE 590277726



A.O. - The Song Of Your Name

Donato Chopin Mash Up

The Velocity of Life is a reflection on how we live our lives too fast, too furiously and too shallowly. 

A friend and singer gently said to me "don't rush" as we practiced on a new piece. 

We all need a friend who whispers "don't rush" when you get swept away by the velocity of life.

For Alegria



The Velocity Of Life

Rëka

These notes tumbled out after a two week immersion in music and creative dance. The music whispered "Ecris moi..."

Ecris Moi

This began as the Song of Your Name for Sergio. But the musical notes I found in his name carried the whisper of a Canzone Napolitane. The song asked for guitar and piccolo in the style of the old Troubadours rather than a piano voicing. 
So, with grateful thanks to Sergio for the inspiration, I present "Sergio - L'uomo di Napoli

Sergio - L'uomo di Napoli

Sophie

An improvisation created around the notes inspired by the name of a dancer called Solveig.

Solveig - The song of your name

A melody based on the name "The Strengths Workbook" - Sally Bibb's new book in the Strengths series about understanding and playing to your strengths to be happier, more confident, more resilient, less stressed and more successful.

This was the first time I have improvised a song based on the name of a thing rather than a person. 

So how do I write a song about a book?
 
Shostakovich apparently used a method of making music from names. Musically there are 7 alphabet letters from 'a to g'. So the transfer to music of the letters from 'h to z' is made by listing the alphabet in 7 columns (the second line under 'a to g' is 'h to n' etc). The resulting alphabetical matrix is organised under the columns 'a to g' providing a series of musical notes to (try) and organise into musical sensibilities. 

a  b  c  d   e  f  g
h   I   j   k   l  m n
o  p  q   r   s  t  u
v w  x   y   z

This is like playing musical scrabble. When you get a good hand (and a musical red square with a triple letter)you are on to a winner. Well, "The Strengths Book" did not need much musical organisation.The melody seated itself in the key of D major, and the notes described a circular chord progression. 

This piece starts with the 15 notes respresenting the name "The Strengths Book". After the first melodic statement, I start to explore the development of a second and a third theme before finally turning the music and heading back towards home in D major.

Musically interested? 
The notes are:
fae efdggfae baad

Photography: Martin Gardner (www.martingardner.com)
Sally Bibb: www.sallybibb.com

The Strengths Book (The song of your name)

Improvised around the theme of tears and laughter.

“Laughter is wine for the soul - laughter soft, or loud and deep, tinged through with seriousness - the hilarious declaration made by man that life is worth living.” 
― Sean O'Casey
"Cry, I tell you and the reflections found in your pool of tears
will remind you of the lessons of today and yesterday to guide you through the fears of tomorrow.” 
― Suzy Kassem

Tu pleures y te ríes

This is a "Song of your name" 

'Myfanwy Jane' is a musical thank you for a friend who lifted our spirits during a difficult time.

The "Song of your name" project creates improvised pieces which are based on someone's name. The notes of the melody are converted from the letters of a name using this grid:
A | B | C | D | E | F  | G
H | I  | J  | K | L | M | N
O | P | Q | R | S | T | U    ...etc

(in music, only the letters A - G are assigned to notes) 
Here you can see that the letter J is in the column headed C, and the letter N is in the column G.

So the name JANE becomes the musical notes C-A-G-E. All 26 letters of the alphabet can be assigned to a music note from A to G. 

The addition of key, accents, timing, answering melody and the craft of song-making I leave to a strange and whimsical process. I like to think of it as a journey. The notes, once brought to life, want to find their way home.

Myfanwy Jane

Kathleen

A song for a baby boy taken too soon. The vibrations of music continue long after the sound has dissipated to maybe in this melody made from the letters of Jerimiah, he will live forever.

Song for Jerimiah

A piece inspired by random numbers. A friend who is a cellist gave me eight numbers between 1 and 12 (an octave in semitones). The numbers were transcribed to notes by assigning number 1 to middle c and so on.
In addition to the numbers, I ask for an emotive description - in this case it was "chaos".
The first take is improvised with no rehearsal and opened in Logic Pro for tidying up the odd note collision or slip but without losing the essence of the improvisation. The cello track was then added. 
"The resulting track is the soundtrack of lockdown for me. The paradox of any creative endeavour is that the artist taps into chaos to inspire and organise art." 
Steve Morrall, April 2020

Chaostinato

That moment when we observe a child, totally lost in play in the sand and the sound of the waves and distant laughter and warm sun combine to leave an indelible memory.

Kootenay revisited

Stop This Crazy World

Published composer in the UK, (PRS CAE 590277726) and lifelong musician, playing piano, guitar, bandoneon, double bass.

Steve Morrall

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